Years Ago

Today is Friday, Nov. 16, the 321st day of 2012. There are 45 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1933: The United States and the Soviet Union establish diplomatic relations.

1961: House Speaker Samuel T. Rayburn, 79, dies at his home in Bonham, Texas, having served as speaker since 1940 except for two terms as minority leader of the Democrats.

1966: Dr. Samuel H. Sheppard is acquitted in his second trial of murdering his pregnant wife, Marilyn, in 1954.

1973: Skylab 4, carrying a crew of three astronauts, is launched from Cape Canaveral on an 84-day mission.

1982: An agreement is announced in the 57th day of a strike by National Football League players.

VINDICATOR FILES

1987: Youngstown’s Minority Business Enterprise loan program will be merged with the city’s conventional loan subsidy program and stricter criteria will be employed to reduce the high default rate the program has had.

Dizzy Gillespie brings his famous trumpet and his four-man combo to Powers Auditorium where he delights the audience with 90 minutes of unique jazz.

1972: James Lewis Sr. easily wins top honors when the McGuffey Center Golden Age Club holds its Thanksgiving dinner. He is 103 years old.

Classes are cancelled for more than 1,000 students at Lakeview High School in Cortland due to heavy vandalism. More than 20 windows were broken and inside school doors were kicked in and fire extinguishers discharged.

1962: After hearing pros and cons from a crowd of 400 crammed into a West Boulevard Elementary auditorium, the Boardman Board of Zoning Appeals approves a zone change to allow construction of a private swimming club on West Boulevard.

U.S. District Judge Frank J. Battisti sentences John L. Magourias, 37, of Falls Avenue to 20 years in prison on a guilty pleas to transporting stolen and forged money orders.

1937: The body of Thomas D. Kates of Pittsburgh is found hanging from a rafter in a coal shed behind the Boyer School five miles south of Canfield. He was apparently robbed and murdered, gangland style.

Youngstown’s West Side gets representation on the Youngstown Board of Education with the naming of Clyde H. Hossel, businessman and prominent civic leader, to fill the seat left by the death of George L. Hopkins.